🎉 Coworking celebrations.
🏆 4 workspace operators featured in Best Places to Work list #
Zoe Ellis-Moore shares that DeskLodge, Halkin, Office Space in Town and Uncommon were all featured in the Sunday Times’ Best Place to Work list for 2023.
Huge congrats and thanks to these operators for creating amazing places to work!
👉 Read this.
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✊ Coworking impact.
Coworking news & views.
😯 Could IWG be preparing to acquire WeWork?! #
Whilst exploring possible undercurrent trends between various market moves shared through this newsletter, I had a thought about a possible move IWG plc could make, or be making, to acquire WeWork.
I also dig into how they could and if they should, from my perspective as an outside observer.
👉 Read this.
🏴 Who has the potential to inject millions into local economies? #
Coworking spaces in Scotland. Scottish Financial News shares that the growing network of local coworking hubs has the potential to inject millions of pounds into local economies according to The Melting Pot. How? The research shows that European coworkers spend around £9 per day at local businesses around their coworking spaces.
I’d love for more spaces to take quarterly tallies of how much their members spend in their hyperlocal economies on things like food, entertainment, supplies and more. Got data? Share it with us please.
👉 Read this.
🙅♀️ Some tips for navigating popular coworking challenges #
Muhammad Faheem shares some tips for tackling 8 popular challenges for coworking communities.
The list could be useful for ideas if you’re finding yourself struggling with a noisy space, rising RE costs, high member churn, or potentially toxic cultures/individuals.
👉 Read this.
☕️ What’s better than pajamas or a coffee mug for Mothers/Fathers day? #
As you may know, I love seeing coworking access gifted to folks who need it (but may not even know that yet), so I smiled a bunch when Kayley DiCicco recommended folks gift Expansive coworking membership for Mother’s or Father’s day gifts.
👉 Read this.
🍷 What a missing corkscrew has to do with coworking/coliving #
Jeannine van der Linden, from DeKamer, shares a musing after the recent Coworking Spain conference.
It’s a fun read so I won’t dig in too deeply, but I do love how a missing corkscrew highlighted 5 lessons for anyone involved with coworking (or coliving).
👉 Read this.
💬 Discussion about the rent arbitrage model #
Michael Abrams shares some thoughts about the issues raised about WeWork’s underperforming business model, noting that it may come down to the fact that they took on too much space per location.
Great to also see insights from Jerome Chang, John Gallander, Thibaut Taittinger, Declan Murphy, Geoff Sakala, Francis Saele and others in the comment thread.
👉 Read this.
🇺🇸 US Gov deploying $500M to create new tech hot spots #
The U.S. government is seeking to turn metro areas in middle America into the next hot spots of tech innovation with an initial $500 million investment.
The Department of Commerce announced Friday its first notice of funding opportunity, or NOFO, for the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub program, known as Tech Hubs. It kicks off the process for eligible groups around the country to apply to be designated as Tech Hubs. That designation gives them the chance to take advantage of the funds to make their regions attractive places for entrepreneurs and technologists to live and work.
👉 Read this.
🇬🇧 5% of closed retail stock can become flex space #
Jonny Rosenblatt from Spacemade shares that they estimate that approximately five per cent of the current closed retail stock in the UK lends itself to being converted into easily accessible high street flex space.
I also like Jonny’s quote about there being" no real separation now of work, home and social space: they can sit cohesively together to enhance the high street and to make these spaces desirable locations for people to spend time".
👉 Read this.
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💻 Coworking technology.
💼 Hybrid workforce tech and booking platform partner up #
Mark Gilbreath (and Dan Bladen) share the news this week that their platforms are partnering up. In short this means that organizations using Kadence to manage their hybrid teams can now book both internal employer-owned spaces and spaces from 3rd party operators via Liquidspace.
This follows similar moves from other remote work platforms and booking platforms, including the recent tie up between Liquidspace and OfficeRnD Hybrid. As mentioned in my recent post about new rev. opportunities for flex space bookings, expect more in this area.
👉 Read this.
Coworking data.
👍 What flex space resources are in demand #
DeskMag shares their second summary from this year’s Global Coworking Survey looking at what kinda of workspaces are most in demand right now.
In short: meeting rooms, team offices and hotdesks are up (in cities) and event spaces are down. 85% of operators also reported that they expect more members and revenue moving forward, a nod towards improved confidence in the market.
👉 Read this.
🧮 Average prices of private offices across Europe #
Workthere shares the average desk prices from across Europes biggest cities.
The average desk price is highest in London, Dublin and Paris with an average price of €800 per desk per month, closely followed by Stockholm and Munich sitting at €700. Prices are lowest in Porto with an average price of €240 per desk and €300 in The Hague and Salzburg.
👉 Read this.
Coworking market moves.
🔔 As memberships surpass 800, operator explores off-peak plans #
Tim Schabsky shares that as Work Inn nears the milestone of 800 members, they’re exploring an idea of offering off-peak memberships or plans for folks who only need access to the space after 4pm or over the weekend.
They’re assessing demand before implementing any pricing, but I like the idea of making spaces accessible for folks who need workspaces in ‘non-traditional’ hours – eg remote workers with teams in other timezones, students working on assignments, parents needing somewhere to work after kids are in bed, or even people working on side-projects after work.
👉 Read this.
🇬🇧 Bruntwood teases new 229k sqft Leeds project #
Ciara Keeling shares a glimpse of the new Bruntwood Works workspace in Leeds.
The 229k sqft site will feature coworking, café, communal lounge and workspace space alongside innovative lighting concepts, carefully curated art installations, a state-of-the-art fitness studio and the largest cycle storage facility in the city.
👉 Read this.
💆♀️ Tishman expands amenity program globally #
Tishman Speyer have shared the expansion of their ZO amenity access program across their global portfolio of office buildings. Example amenities available in the NYC buildings include meeting rooms, flexible event spaces, dining spaces, tenant lounges, massage rooms, barbers, wellness spaces, and more.
The "expansion of its existing ZO amenity program, ZO Global Access opens available services and facilities to office workers in any of the company’s 41 properties in the United States and abroad."
👉 Read this.
🌍 Whitel-label flex operator expands into UAE #
infinitSpace, creator and provider of white-label flexible workspaces, has launched a new partnership with UAE-based investment and holding company Sultan Holding that will see the creation of two new flexible workspaces – one in Dubai, and one in Abu Dhabi.
👉 Read this.
👏 Village Work announces large expansion #
Gina Schreck shares that on June 1st they’ll be opening the new expanded Village Work, Wellness and Event space feat. 91 offices, event space for 200 and a raft of other amenities.
👉 Read this.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Laura Shook Guzman chats with Cat Johnson about entrepreneurial mental health, getting curious about what drives you and challenges of living up to your potential on the Coworking Out Loud podcast.
Grant Philipp chats with Jamie Russo and Giovanni Palavicini about the changing ways end-users are searching for office space, and how Office Hub uses data and AI to provide solutions on the Flex Uncensored podcast.